White Otter Castle
White Otter Castle is an elaborate 3-story log house built on the shore of White Otter Lake, about 35 kilometres (22 mi) south of Ignace, Ontario, Canada, by eccentric hermit James Alexander "Jimmy" McOuat.
The "Castle" is a sturdy log house which stands 3 stories tall (29 feet), with a turret extending up an additional floor (41 feet). The main part of the building measures 24 by 28 feet, while an attached kitchen area adds a further 14 by 20 feet to the floorplan.
McOuat built his "castle" single-handedly, beginning in 1903 when he was 51, and finally completing it in 1915. He felled and cut all of the red pine logs himself, and hoisted the finished, dovetailed beams (some of them weighing as much as 1600 lbs) into place by means of simple block and tackle.
The Castle was built with the intention of a dowry for a lady McOuat, wanted to marry, of whom he met and corresponded with through a letters. Though he never did truly meet the woman he was going to marry. McOuat died just as he had lived alone.
Jimmy McOuat drowned while netting fish in 1918. His grave is next to the Castle.
In pop culture
Jinx and the Soulmates have a song on their album called King of White Otter Lake written by Bill Houston. This song is folk based in the spirit of Gordon Lightfoot.
Sources
- Barr, Elinor, White Otter Castle: The Legacy of Jimmy McOuat. Thunder Bay: Singing Shield Productions, 1984.
- The Castle of White Otter Lake, DVD, originally a film by Peter G. Elliott, written by Elinor Barr, narrated by Gordon Pinsent, 1985.
External links
Coordinates: 49°10′16″N 91°54′34″W / 49.171007°N 91.909359°W